I am a Burmese exile taking a near-permanent refuge in New York and Sydney. Here are my essays about Burma and anything else I feel like writing about. And posting the articles I like from selected sites. Bridging Burma to the world this Blog is more of a Politically-Oriented Literary Blog than a Plain News Blog or a Sophisticated Thoughts Blog.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Crimea Parliament Voted 78-0 To Rejoin Mother Russia

Lawmakers in Crimea unanimously voted
Thursday to break away from Ukraine and join Russia – and called for a March 16
referendum so voters can ratify the controversial split.“This is our response to the disorder and lawlessness in Kiev,”
said Sergei Shuvainikov, a member of the local Crimean legislature, said. “We will decide our future ourselves.”

The 100-seat parliament in Crimea, which already has some autonomy under
current Ukrainian law, voted 78-0 with eight abstentions in favor of joining
Russia and holding the referendum. Crimean voters will also have the option of
deciding to remain part of Ukraine, but with even more autonomy and power to
decide local matters.

In Simferopol, Crimea’s capital, about
50 people rallied outside the local parliament Thursday morning waving Russian
and Crimean flags. Among the posters they held was one that said “Russia,
defend us from genocide.”

“We are tired of revolutions, Maidans and conflicts and we want to live
peacefully in Russia,” said one of the bystanders, Igor Urbansky, 35. “Only Russia can give us a peaceful life.”

Maidan is the name of the downtown
square in Kiev where tens of thousands of protesters contested the rule of
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled to Russia. But not all in this
city favored the lawmakers’ action.

Russian soldiers in Crimea.

“This is crazy. Crimea has become Putin’s puppet,” said Viktor
Gordiyenko, 46. “A referendum at gunpoint
of Russia weapons is just a decoration for Putin’s show. A decision on
occupation has already been made.”

But Svetlana Savchenko, another Crimean
lawmaker, said the choice she and her fellow deputies took in favor of joining
Russia will force Moscow to make a decision. “This is our principled position,” she said. “Now the Russian
Federation must begin a procedure – will it take us in or not.”

Under the Soviet Union, Crimea belonged to the Russian Federation until
it was transferred to Ukraine in 1954 by Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev.

There was no immediate response from
the Ukrainian central government to the vote, but on Wednesday Ukraine’s prime
minister vowed that Crimea would remain part of Ukraine. In Moscow, prominent
parliamentarian Sergei Mironov introduced a bill to simplify the procedure to
allow Crimea to join Russia and said it could be passed as soon as next week.

President Vladimir Putin has said
Russia had no intention of annexing Crimea, but insisted residents of the
peninsula on the Black Sea had the right to determine their own fate.

Earlier, Crimea’s new leader said
pro-Russian forces numbering more than 11,000 now control all access to the
peninsula in the Black Sea and have blockaded all military bases that have not
yet surrendered. And the Russian Navy deliberately sank
a cruiser Wednesday night to block the Ukrainian Navy ships deployed in
Novoozerne, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said Thursday.

Trapping Ukrainian Navy In A Small Lake

The Russians towed their ship Ochakov
to a navigating channel, filled it with water and detonated explosives to make
it sink, trapping the Ukrainian vessels in a lake that empties through the
channel into the Black Sea. Also Thursday, European leaders said
Russia will face sanctions over its military incursion into the Crimean
peninsula unless it withdraws its troops or engages in credible talks to defuse
the situation.

Sunken Russian cruiser blocking Ukrainian navy.

“We need to send a very clear message to the Russian government that
what has happened is unacceptable and should have consequences,” British Prime
Minister David Cameron said as he arrived at an emergency meeting of the bloc’s
28 leaders in Brussels.

But leaders appeared divided between
nations close to Russia’s borders and some western economic powerhouses —
notably Germany — that were taking a more dovish line.

“Whether [sanctions] will come into force depends also on how the
diplomatic process progresses,”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said,
noting that foreign ministers including US Secretary of State John Kerry and
Russia’s Sergey Lavrov were holding talks again in Rome on Thursday.

“Russia today is dangerous,” insisted Lithuanian President Dalia
Grybauskaite, warning Moscow is seeking to expand its borders. “After Ukraine will be Moldova, and after
Moldova will be different countries.”

Among initial sanctions Moscow could
face are the suspension of talks on visa liberalization and an economic
agreement. More drastic steps like asset freezes and travel bans on Russian
officials were unlikely to be adopted, not least because of Europe’s close
economic ties with Russia.

The US has already suspended talks on
an investment treaty and threatened further steps. NATO on Wednesday suspended
most of its meetings with Russian officials, halting military cooperation and
deciding to review all aspects of its relationship with Moscow. “We cannot go back to business as usual,”
Merkel said.

At nearly 60% ethnic Russians control Crimea.

Poland, Lithuania and other eastern
European countries closer to Russia’s borders pushed for a strong and united EU
response, including meaningful sanctions, but Germany, the Netherlands and
others preferred defusing the crisis through diplomacy.

“We should do everything to give the route of de-escalation a chance and
if we come to the conclusion today or the next 24, 48, 72 hours that
de-escalation is not an option then obviously sanctions are back on the table,” Dutch Prime Minister
Mark Rutte said.

Russia is Europe’s third-largest
trading partner and its biggest gas and oil supplier. EU exports to Russia in
2012 totaled $170 billion, and European banks have about 200 billion euros in
outstanding loans to Russia.

Cameron, Merkel, French President
Francois Hollande and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk held initial talks to
coordinate their strategy before the summit. The 28 leaders then opened their
meeting with talks with Ukraine’s new prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

“This is not just the Ukrainian-Russian crisis, this is the crisis in
Europe,” Yatsenyuk said at a meeting earlier Thursday with European Parliament
leaders. The EU proposed a $15 billion aid package for Ukraine Wednesday. The
US has so far pledged $1 billion and is working on a more comprehensive
package, in coordination with the EU and the International Monetary Fund.

Ukraine’s economy is faltering and the country is running out of cash.
The government in Kiev estimates it will need $35 billion in bailout loans for
this year and next. The EU also offered Ukraine a wide-ranging free trade and
economic agreement that would draw Kiev closer to Europe and help boost its
economy.

Ukraine is clearly divided into two halves: Pro-Russia in East and Pro-EU in West.